Why NDAs are Useless

Here is a post I came across from my twitter feed discussing why NDAs are essentially useless and unenforceable in the digital age. Many good points are made, and for the most part I agree with them. I’m not quite so vehemently opposed to them as the author is as I know they aren’t enforceable. The reason I sign them is a good faith gesture to my clients. I think we both know they aren’t useful, but it gives the client a nice litmus test to determine whether I’m just looking to steal ideas, or at least to say, “Hey, it’d be great if you didn’t twitter or blog about anything you learn while looking at our system.” — at least not directly of course, you can’t ask me to forget something I may have learned while working on a project for you 🙂

I always check an NDA to ensure that previously known information is out of the scope of the NDA.

I can’t think of a single case where, after signing an NDA, the idea presented was something that was actually new to me. It’s all been stuff I’ve heard before, or thought of myself, rendering the NDA essentially irrelevant.

As with you, I sign them as an act of good faith, a formal confirmation that I will respect my client’s privacy. For me, whether I sign or not, I treat every client as if I had signed an NDA with them.